Vandenburg project beings in Wellington

Numbers-2-Know: Find out the facts and figures behind the latest construction project.

Nate Jones@TheJonesTracker#Vandenburg

As work begins on the long-awaited Vadenburg project, take a look at some useful numbers to know.

80 – Percentage of cost the Kansas Department of Transportation will pay for on the Vandenburg construction. The City of Wellington will have to pick up the remaining 20 percent, plus some additional costs.

"The City had to do 100 percent of the design costs and submit it to the State for approval," Wellington City Manager, Gus Collins said. "That was 125,000 dollars."

6 – Number of months the Vandenburg improvements are expected to last. "It will be totally closed, beginning Monday [March 18]," Collins said last week. "The people that live on Vandeburg, we'll give them access as we can."

2,500 – Amount of vehicles that traverse Vandenburg on a daily basis.

400,000 – Dollars the City has invested into the Vandenburg project. This amount includes the project within the project involving sewer lines.

"We are relocating a sanitary sewer that captures the Sumner County detention center, and captures a lot of industrial properties," Collins said. The industrial line ran through a residential area, that line will now run along the improved Vandenburg Avenue.

2011 – Year when the City first sought the public's input about improving Vandenburg. Almost two years to the day later, Dondlinger and Sons Construction will begin work on the road that has been jokingly called 'The Chisholm Trail.'

"It was high-maintnance for our Public Works and Street Department," Collins said. "A lot of those issues will be eliminated from that standpoint."

2,500,000 – Approximate, total cost of the Vandenburg improvements, a project that doubles up that of the roundabout at 15th and A.

Originally, Vandenburg was built as an alternative route while the overpass was built. The road wasn't built up to snuff for semi-trucks, but Vandenburg 2.0 will be.

"It will be concrete, and built to withstand semi-tractor trailers. So it will be a nice, nice addition to our street inventory," Collins said. Being able to cross Vandenburg off the list of street issues is big for the City.

"As we analyze traffic infrastructure, our main objective is to move people safely in an environment that works," Collins said. "This will certainly provide a different route, a safer, nicer roadway. A lot of people avoided it for many years."